Warning about Autoflower (photoperiod sensitive)

Hob10

Hob10

Well-Known Member
RemeberMe said:
I started a few autoflower AK47 at 18 hours of light for about 3 weeks just to jump start them before I put them outside. After putting them outside with a sunshine time of under 12 hours they did start to flower even though they were only about 6" tall. I wish some warning would have been on the Attitude site mentioning that light can still trigger them because now I'm out $90. Whelp, hope this saves someone.
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Dud autoflower are cool 60-70 days your smoking them the down side is a small yield but if
you have the room get reg. seeds pollinate now you have seeds grow 50 at a time you will get
25 fem. with an avg 10.5 grams dried 1/4 lb and start new ones 50 every 30 days if you wanted
large autoflower 4-5 foot quicksilver, long john puka seeds, dognut seed Big bad john however they
are not as fast 3-4 month but the yield is the same as 12/12
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
dirtnap411 said:
Some breeders recommend 20/4 lighting for autos, seems to work well for me.
Click to expand...

Some breeders will recommend a 20/4 light cycle for autoflowering strains, and some have said 24/0 …. as have some people here and on other similar sites in the past recommended the same light cycles for vegging any photo-period strain.

I just wonder what sort of actual botanical knowledge some breeders, and many growers, actually possess. Regardless of a strain being a photo-period strain or not they are genetically coded for conditions that would be normal to the strain if grown in natural conditions, which would include periods of light and periods of darkness. Plants perform different tasks to different degrees during hours of light than during hours of darkness.

During hours of light, if outdoors in perfect growing conditions, there would be far more than the maximum amount of usable light available to each plant but the amount of light capable of being taken in and used for energy is limited by the overall area of green outer matter of each plant, anything green has chlorophyll and that means it will perform photosynthesis taking in light rays and transforming it into usable energy.

In spite of there being limitless light, in this example anyway, a plant is still limited in its intake of light rays due to its limited overall area available to take in light rays. During hours of daylight plants are genetically coded to multitask, to perform all actions/activities/plant functions so of the total amount of light rays taken in and converted to usable plant energy the collected energy has to be allocated in small amounts to each plant function.

During hours of darkness when plants operate on stored energy, battery backup you could call it, due to that limitation energy is again allocated but when in flower it is allocated to the two primary plant functions, growth/bud growth and THC creation.

THC is broken down by light rays during hours of light and during hours of darkness what was lost is replenished and a small additional amount is added making for a slow gradual overall increase in THC over time, and that spells potency by harvest.

If during flower light rays strike THC producing trichome heads, where the THC works something like sunscreen does for people, protecting the sensitive inner workings of the trichome heads, if there is not a sufficient length period of time of darkness for the lost/degraded THC to be replenished and added to how can maximum or even an acceptable minimal amount of THC ever accumulate?

Evidently it does but based on how plants work there is no way there could be as much THC as if longer periods of darkness were given during flower, regardless of a strain being a photo-period strain or not. Basic plant functions are not totally altered just because a strain is an autoflowering strain.

An autoflowering strain will of course begin to flower and then continue to flower based on some genetically coded timeframe, but the plant will still want/need/require certain conditions that would still be normal for it to exist in so it would have the chance to become the best it would be capable of becoming.

That is why I never believed in anything other than the traditional light cycle time periods for photo-period strains and why I believe that regardless of a strain being triggered to flower due to a timeframe in its genetic coding rather than needing a change in the length of day/night to trigger flowering that normal or more normal light schedules would be more beneficial to autoflowering strains than ones like 20/4 or 24/0, especially while flowering.

I can only guess that the logic is that smaller/smallish plants if given increased lengths of period of light will result in increased growth and yield due to an increase in the total amount of light taken in by each plant which means a maximum amount of light rays taken in and converted to a maximum amount of plant energy to be used most if not all the time, depending on chosen lengthened light period.

Where that falls down to me is that the most efficient plant growth and the most efficient production of THC occurs during hours of darkness, we are of course talking about when in flower when talking THC production.

What is the real gain by depriving a plant of its most efficient periods of growth and THC production? Will increasing the length of periods of time of slower growth/bud production and decreased THC production in the end result in increased total growth/bud production and accumulated THC than what would be found by giving plants the amount of time when growth/bud production and THC production are maximized and at their most efficient?

It just does not add up to me. It seems to be one more myth or urban legend about growing that came from what seemed like totally rational logical thought, but did not come from proven botanical science. To date I have not seen/read any test results where plants in sufficient numbers in controlled enough conditions to make the test able to be considered to be accurate and valid that has proven a true growth pattern result that is able to be repeatedly duplicated where plants were grown each way thus proving one way to be superior to the other.

I have read many claims but I have yet to see irrefutable proof pointing in either direction.

Then again autoflowering strains might be so vastly different from other types of strains that at least some of the basic botanical sciences are not applicable, so what seems to be very wrong might not in fact be at all wrong. Maybe.
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
They are still growing. They have gotten a little taller, like 3" but haven't bushed out at all. The whole plant pretty much looks like a cola. I don't see many uses for this type of plant. Why would you want something that produces so little but takes so much light? I mean if you grow a regular plant it produces a lot more with far less energy costs. I thought it would make a good summer outdoor plant because it would flower even when the days grew longer (which would stop regular flowering) but I was wrong I guess. Whelp, live and learn. It's been fun anyway! Kind of like making a mistake with a batch of cookies, you still eat them and enjoy anyway :)
 
150wHPS

150wHPS

Active Member
oh yeah, I like how you deleted the posts where you were being a complete jerk to make it look like I was the one who was being abrasive. Good job!! +rep
 
clasonde

clasonde

Active Member
i just finished my first two autoflowers that i tossed into my flowering room. i grew auto lemon skunk and auto white russian. under 12/12 light and in 1 gallon pots, one finished at 16inches tall with 3/4 oz of potent lemony goodness, and the other one finished at 26inches and with 1 oz of nice knockout stone bud. grown under a 400w hps, transplanted once, 12/12 light because of a problem happening with my other grow room, bio bizz organic nutes. they both suffered from some heat stress at one point also which resulted in 5 fem auto white russian seeds (so pumped)
 
TrynaGroSumShyt

TrynaGroSumShyt

Well-Known Member
should read up on it..

they flower automatically even if they only gettin 2 hours of light.. it doesnt matter if you woulda left them inside they still wouldve
 
brandon873

brandon873

Well-Known Member
150wHPS said:
oh yeah, I like how you deleted the posts where you were being a complete jerk to make it look like I was the one who was being abrasive. Good job!! +rep
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150hps i have been watching this thread and completely agree with ya. if you plan on shellin out money ya need to do the research. hell chances are if ya type the name of the autoflower on youtube, someone has grown it and put their grow on video. and remeberme, you set yourself up for all the negative feedback. the answers to your questions were all over this website. you just had to look. if grown under the right conditions, they start flowering at around 6 inches tall and can become anywhere from 1.5-3 feet tall on average. and you can get an ounce off of them if you grow em right, which is pretty damn good. Just be patient and it will grow.
 
brandon873

brandon873

Well-Known Member
Hob10 said:
Dud autoflower are cool 60-70 days your smoking them the down side is a small yield but if
you have the room get reg. seeds pollinate now you have seeds grow 50 at a time you will get
25 fem. with an avg 10.5 grams dried 1/4 lb and start new ones 50 every 30 days if you wanted
large autoflower 4-5 foot quicksilver, long john puka seeds, dognut seed Big bad john however they
are not as fast 3-4 month but the yield is the same as 12/12
Click to expand...
this is true, you can pollinate them with another plant. but that would defeat the purpose. if you stress the plant out really bad you can hermie it. then it will pollinate itself.
 
Mindmelted

Mindmelted

Well-Known Member
Autos go by age and then start to flower.
My auto hindu kush started flowering at 21 days old under 24 hours light.
 
chefyD

chefyD

Member
Brick Top said:
Some breeders will recommend a 20/4 light cycle for autoflowering strains, and some have said 24/0 …. as have some people here and on other similar sites in the past recommended the same light cycles for vegging any photo-period strain.

I just wonder what sort of actual botanical knowledge some breeders, and many growers, actually possess. Regardless of a strain being a photo-period strain or not they are genetically coded for conditions that would be normal to the strain if grown in natural conditions, which would include periods of light and periods of darkness. Plants perform different tasks to different degrees during hours of light than during hours of darkness.

During hours of light, if outdoors in perfect growing conditions, there would be far more than the maximum amount of usable light available to each plant but the amount of light capable of being taken in and used for energy is limited by the overall area of green outer matter of each plant, anything green has chlorophyll and that means it will perform photosynthesis taking in light rays and transforming it into usable energy.

In spite of there being limitless light, in this example anyway, a plant is still limited in its intake of light rays due to its limited overall area available to take in light rays. During hours of daylight plants are genetically coded to multitask, to perform all actions/activities/plant functions so of the total amount of light rays taken in and converted to usable plant energy the collected energy has to be allocated in small amounts to each plant function.

During hours of darkness when plants operate on stored energy, battery backup you could call it, due to that limitation energy is again allocated but when in flower it is allocated to the two primary plant functions, growth/bud growth and THC creation.

THC is broken down by light rays during hours of light and during hours of darkness what was lost is replenished and a small additional amount is added making for a slow gradual overall increase in THC over time, and that spells potency by harvest.

If during flower light rays strike THC producing trichome heads, where the THC works something like sunscreen does for people, protecting the sensitive inner workings of the trichome heads, if there is not a sufficient length period of time of darkness for the lost/degraded THC to be replenished and added to how can maximum or even an acceptable minimal amount of THC ever accumulate?

Evidently it does but based on how plants work there is no way there could be as much THC as if longer periods of darkness were given during flower, regardless of a strain being a photo-period strain or not. Basic plant functions are not totally altered just because a strain is an autoflowering strain.

An autoflowering strain will of course begin to flower and then continue to flower based on some genetically coded timeframe, but the plant will still want/need/require certain conditions that would still be normal for it to exist in so it would have the chance to become the best it would be capable of becoming.

That is why I never believed in anything other than the traditional light cycle time periods for photo-period strains and why I believe that regardless of a strain being triggered to flower due to a timeframe in its genetic coding rather than needing a change in the length of day/night to trigger flowering that normal or more normal light schedules would be more beneficial to autoflowering strains than ones like 20/4 or 24/0, especially while flowering.

I can only guess that the logic is that smaller/smallish plants if given increased lengths of period of light will result in increased growth and yield due to an increase in the total amount of light taken in by each plant which means a maximum amount of light rays taken in and converted to a maximum amount of plant energy to be used most if not all the time, depending on chosen lengthened light period.

Where that falls down to me is that the most efficient plant growth and the most efficient production of THC occurs during hours of darkness, we are of course talking about when in flower when talking THC production.

What is the real gain by depriving a plant of its most efficient periods of growth and THC production? Will increasing the length of periods of time of slower growth/bud production and decreased THC production in the end result in increased total growth/bud production and accumulated THC than what would be found by giving plants the amount of time when growth/bud production and THC production are maximized and at their most efficient?

It just does not add up to me. It seems to be one more myth or urban legend about growing that came from what seemed like totally rational logical thought, but did not come from proven botanical science. To date I have not seen/read any test results where plants in sufficient numbers in controlled enough conditions to make the test able to be considered to be accurate and valid that has proven a true growth pattern result that is able to be repeatedly duplicated where plants were grown each way thus proving one way to be superior to the other.

I have read many claims but I have yet to see irrefutable proof pointing in either direction.

Then again autoflowering strains might be so vastly different from other types of strains that at least some of the basic botanical sciences are not applicable, so what seems to be very wrong might not in fact be at all wrong. Maybe.
Click to expand...
Ok ...well this is what has gone on... Girlie stared flower , two pistol hairs...Well she started to take off! Timers blew and had to manual it...hence light cycles got effed up! Almost different every day!? Well end result is once it flowered it stays flowering..
SO... some days / nites, It gets like 13 or14 light some days 15-16! i figured if I effed it up then Oh Well!!!??? It's in Flower! light equals GROWTH...!!! It doesn't know whether it's gonna revert back to veg! I have read it can be done, however experts say it may take 2-3 weeks before it can recognize that it has gone back to veg!?!? So, hence a few days of 18/6 after the initial flower stage set,, it's/SHE has gone WILD....Huge bud SWELL, Light is growth, Right? so it never got confused and MAN I'm-a tellin' ya wow in just days, bud swell is off the chain..I dunno but once she thinks she's a SHE, extra light seems to be helpin' her swellness...maybe it's just luck, BUT it seems that once she is a she it's a she? LoL
 
Killer Bud

Killer Bud

Well-Known Member
auto flowers usually start after 21 days from seed. Most breeders state that. Lol. You got what you paid for AUTO FLOWERING!
 
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